New York Legislative Citation Form


The most widely accepted guide to legal citation form is the Uniform System of Citation (the "Bluebook" or "Harvard Bluebook").

For use in New York briefs, the Law Reporting Bureau publishes the Official New York Law Reports Style Manual, once popularly known as the "Tanbook." The official Style Manual was prepared by the Law Reporting Bureau of the State of New York, and the full text is currently available at the Bureau's website: www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/New_Styman.htm.

The editors of St. John's Law Review publish New York Rules of Citation. This guide applies the Bluebook rules to New York examples.

The Association of Legal Writing Directors publishes the ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation. For legislative materials, the ALWD calls for using the special state citation format. [ALWD CITATION MANUAL, Rule 16.1 (bills), 16.6 (reports, documents, and prints) (2000).]

Here are the proper citation forms for legislative materials, as presented in Gibsons New York Legal Reserach Guide:


A. Unenacted Bills

1. Bluebook
Senate: S. 10651, 209th Sess. (N.Y. 1986).
Assembly: A. 1855, 219th Sess. (N.Y. 1996).

2. Official Style Manual
Senate: (2001 NY Assembly Bill A 9041).
Assembly (2002 NY Senate Bill A 3025).

Note that these and the following examples for the Official Style Manual are surrounded by parenthesis. This citation format would be used without parenthesis if appearing in running text or footnotes. [See NEW YORK LAW REPORTS STYLE MANUAL §1.2(a) (2002).]

3. ALWD
Senate: N.Y. Sen. 1258, 226th Sess. (Jan. 29, 2003).
Assembly: N.Y. Assembly 304, 226th Sess. (Jan. 8, 2003).


B. Resolutions

1. Bluebook
Senate: S. Res. 1364, 215th Sess. (N.Y. 1992).
Assembly: A. Res. 1068, 215th Sess. (N.Y. 1992).

2. Official Style Manual .
Senate: (1992 NY Assembly Res. 1364).
Assembly: (1992 NY Senate Res. 1068).

3. ALWD
Senate: N.Y. Sen. Res. R3, 226th Sess. (Jan. 8, 2003).
Assembly: N.Y. Assembly Res. C38, 226th Sess. (Jan. 27, 2003).


C. Session Laws

1. Bluebook.
1985 N.Y. Laws ch. 210

2. Official Style Manual
(L. 2002, ch. 55).

3. ALWD
2001 N.Y. Laws.


D. Session Laws Service

Bluebook
Private Activity Bond Allocation Act of 1997, Ch. 115, 1997 McKinney's Session Law News of New York.


E. Consolidated Laws

1. Bluebook and ALWD
McKinney's: N.Y. Legis. L. § 25 (West 1991 & Supp. 2004).
(in this example, part of the law was in the bound volume and the other part was in the pocket part).
CLS: N.Y. Educ. L. § 1801 (Consol. 1985).
Gould's: N.Y. Pub. Officer's L. § 70-b (Gould 2003).

2. Official Style Manual
(Education Law § 1801).


F. Memoranda

1. Bluebook
Memorandum of Assemblyman William B. Hoyt, reprinted in 1981 Legis. Ann. 116.
Memorandum of State Department of Insurance, reprinted in 1981 N.Y. Laws (McKinney) 2416.
Governor's Memorandum on Approval of Ch. 3, reprinted in 1981 N.Y. Laws (Consol.) Gm 33.

2. Official Style Manual
(Governor's Mem. approving L. 1981, ch. 3). (Sponsor's Mem., Bill Jacket, L. 1981, ch. 3).
(Governor's Mem. approving L. 1976, ch.134, 1976 McKinney's Session Laws of NY, at 2433).


G. Bill Jacket Correspondence

1. Bluebook
Letter of the American Ins. Ass'n, dated July 13, 1984, Bill Jacket, L. 1984, ch. 390, at 30-31.

2. Official Style Manual
(Letter from the American Ins. Ass'n, July 13, 1984, at 30-31, Bill Jacket, L. 1984, ch. 390).


H. Legislative Documents

1. Bluebook
THIRD INTERIM REPORT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK TEMPORARY COMMISSION ON REVISION OF THE PENAL LAW AND CRIMINAL CODE 35 (1964) (Legislative Document No. 14).

2. Official Style Manual
(Third Interim Report of the State of New York Temporary Commission on Revision of the Penal and Criminal Code, 1964 NY Legis. Doc. No. 14, at 35).
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Testimony:
This would be cited as per Rule 13.3 in the Bluebook (18th ed).

Senate or Assembly debate transcripts:
- Official Style Manual
(NY Assembly Debate on Assembly Bill A7742-A, Jun. 20, 2002, at 113)

Printable form.

Excerpted with permission from William S. Hein & Co., Inc. from their book, Gibson’s New York Legal Research Guide (Third Edition), William H. Manz. © 2004